Before she could say anything her cell-phone buzzed. She walked-off hurriedly. I had to know where she was going. I started following her. Through the alley and down the stairs she reached the open courtyard. I saw her, she met someone at the fountain. It was a guy. It took me not more than 5 seconds to realize who he was. He was my previous team lead, Dinesh.
#
Jay was very surprised when I told him that I wanted to move on, and he was even more surprised when I told him I specifically wanted to go back to the Dofa account. He wondered what I had in my mind. I knew it was time for me to take on Vishwas, I had a perfect plan and I had now the right tools to execute the plan. I also knew that there was little to no room for failure the consequences would be grave, there was a lot more than careers and egos at stake.
The next day a guy called me, he claimed to be a project manager but honestly on phone he sounded like a peon to me. So, he was from Dofa, at-once my heart filled with nervousness and anxiety. Was I sure I wanted to do this.
"You there" The voice at the other end of the phone crackled,
"Yes, yes" I replied.
“Can you come to meet me at once? “
"Yes I will be there at your desk by two"
At about two-ten I was there at his desk, he was there at his desk working on some excel.
"We have urgent requirement for a developer in our project" He said.
"I have heard few good things about you from your last project, and so I picked you"
“You must be aware about the messaging project I did”
And then came the revelation - "you have to adapt yourself quickly to the new technologies" he said, "The project is in C++ and mainframe" I felt my heart tearing out of my chest, I felt a spasm of pain. 'No way!'
But I had to accept it, I had bigger goals in mind than to work in some technology.
"I believe you are upto the challenge"
"Fine, I am up for it" I replied half heartedly.
So, I was back in the regular world, doing regular work just like everybody else. The manager took me to the team lead. And guess who was that lead again? If you are thinking about him you got it right – it was none other than Dinesh. He told me to sit in a seat facing the corner of the wall, it was literally that - I was cornered. People in the cubicle seemed bit snobbish and I decided not to make new friends, and neither to make any effort to start or continue a conversation, instead of people I made the the bulging corner my friend, the wall was my friend, after all we both shared the same fate of being cornered.
#
I was still somewhere in the first week of the new project, work was slow, dripping almost. And it gave me time, time to plan. I spent most of the free time reverse engineering the messaging app. How could I make it more useful? Something that’d be fit for me to use. I was working quite intensively when suddenly my mobile rang.
“Hello” I said, picking it up.
“Hello” The voice replied. “May I know who is this?”
“No” I replied. “You called me”
“Excuse me for my manners” He said. “I am Ishika’s father”
The shock, it almost made me fell-off my chair.
I composed myself and told him that I was a friend. He let a little uh which indicated he didn’t really believe me.
“Do you know where Ishika is?”
“She must be in the office, I guess” I said.
“No she is not, and she is not in her flat as well” He replied.
“Well, sir in that case I had no idea where she is” I said. “Did you try calling her friends?”
“I don’t know any of them” He replied.
“Neither do I” I said.
“Can you help me? In finding her ?”
“I am sure she must be someplace important, perhaps shopping?” I said, and I regretted, “perhaps an appointment” I quickly added, now an appointment definitely sounded more important.
“Thing is I called up her office, and they gave me an alternate number, your number“ He dropped very calmly.
“And so-“ He paused for a brief moment.
“I’d like to meet you young man” He said.
The conversation went one for another couple of minutes. And when it was over, I put the phone in my pocket, got up from my chair, looked around for Dinesh, and then silently slid away. Her father and I had agreed to meet at Barista, Aundh; I had no idea what was to come next.
#
"Where were you for the whole day?" Dinesh asked me. "Hell!" I replied under my breath. "What?" he asked irritated and so I replied, appropriately, "As you know I am new to this whole C++ technology, so in order to understand it better and contribute my hundred percent to project I went to the library to study. “See -" I said pointing to balaguruswamy at my desk, "I grabbed this book"
"Okay, okay" he said, and went away, it was a clean checkmate.
"Boss, where did you learn it?" "You completely blew him away! Clean bowled may I say"
"I am Jain btw" He said, standing up from his chair, huge build, 6 feet some inches, broad shoulder, broad jaws, but gentle voice.
"I am …" I didn’t hesitate to introduce myself, he seemed like a genuine guy and the fact that we both hated Dinesh, made him a good friendship prospect.
"So, for how long you are here?" I asked Jain.
He replied dramatically, "For as long as stars are in the sky and for as long as there is fragrance in the flowers and …. Eternity"
"You are quite a poet" I quip.
"I am nothing but a victim of circumstances, the circumstances screws us all - poet, writer, artist"
He then begins his sobbing story, "I am here for past one year… blah blah blah”
"-and believe this one year felt like a whole decade" "No, work here boss, absolutely no work"
"And whatever it is, it is in C++"
"Hey you don't like C++ too?"
"It sucks boss, I hate it" Now, we have two things in common that we hate, Dinesh and C++
"Why don't you ask for release then?" I ask.
"Sh-" He says, "Let's go in" He says pointing to the conference room.
"Grab a pen and a copy" He adds. I give him why-do-you-need-that look. He reads the expression on my face and replies,
"This way they will think we are discussing some project work" I smile at his smartness.
Pink is the new Black
Bhargavi called me in the evening and reported that her watch was not working and she wanted to get it fixed, “Can we go to JM road today? “
“Today?” I asked.
“Yeah, today” For some time I had been contemplating to ask her out for shopping, I had to doing what I had in my mind, and this seemed the perfect opportunity for it. The only challenge was to talk her into doing it, so that it didn’t look forceful.
I picked her up from the phase-2 office and so we went to the Timex showroom on the JM road, I sat and watched and got bored as she got her chronometer fixed. All the while she standing there near the watchmaker I constantly looked away, and then my phone beeped, I checked it was a text message from her,
“Why so sad?” it said.
“Nothing, just that I don’t find waiting any particularly interesting” She did not reply back. When she was done, she asked me what happened.
“Nothing I replied. I am just totally bored, it’s just the office thing you know.”
“Not let it overpower you” She replied.
She was acting so maturely that for an outsider it’d seem that she was the one experienced and seasoned and I was the one novice, gullible guy. “Do you wanna go to the mall? “ I asked her. It was a smaller setup towards the end of the JM Road.
While going back via FC road she made me stop at the green light and said, “Wait wait, just stop here” I put on the brake immediately, little irritated, I asked her, but she got off and ran to the sidewalk, I took the bike aside, I looked at her and she spoke pointing to the chocolate and ice-cream shop nearby, “Your treat”
“Oh yes” I said. I took a black currant shake and she ordered herself a thin choco shake.
“What is thin Chocó shake?” I asked.
“It’s a Chocó shake with fewer calories”. “Doesn’t it have any sugar in it?” I questioned. “No, it has.” She replied. “Then?”
While we were drinking she spotted something with the corner of her eyes, I don’t know did she do it, but I guess every girl has this sense when they see something shop-able around.
She walked over to this guy who was selling some accessories, some kind of fusion of bracelet and a bangle. “What do they call it?” I asked the vendor, while Bhargavi had turned complete deaf and mute, and all she could see was that stuff. He didn’t answer me but I imagined it’d be called a brangle or a banglet or something. She took a blue pair, no infact one was blue and one was green, I couldn’t understand how they’d form a pair, maybe it was a banglet fashion that my dull mind couldn’t understand. I thought we’d leave right after we were over this but little did I know it was just the beginning of a whole lot bigger tiring evening. She hopped from one vendor to another, one stuff to another, nail paints, lipsticks and so on and on. While she was looking for a pair of earning which she said that she wanted for her cousin, I was pretty sure she was that cousin herself.
I was walking around nervously when my eyes fell upon an old store next to the shop, it was an old book and music shop, I picked up a book called morning of the magicians which was placed next to the little Shirley beans. I have heard vaguely about it, it was like a bible of conspiracy theory, theories about everything from pyramids to second world war to the today’s world of capitalism and consumerism, apparently a single common thread wove everything together - alien race. It was an interesting thought to chew, I decided to keep the book, and I walked over to Bhargavi who was trying some pair, I looked and said, “fantastic, you should keep this”
Around the corner was an apparel shop for women, I held her hand by her wrists and dragged her with me.
“What are you doing? Where are you taking me?” She protested, but she seemed to enjoy the dominance.
“You are coming with me” I demanded.
“But where? ”
“Just don’t ask”
From inside it looked quite a big showroom, we crossed the jeans sections, and the shirt section to reach straight to where I wanted to take her.
“What is it? “ She said, pretending to be miss ignorant.
“I want to you to have one” I said.
“If you are so insisting, pick the one you like” She said flirtingly.
I looked at her in response and she continued, ”for your girlfriend” she smirked.
“Come on go and try one” I pushed her, “maybe this black one”
“Why do you like black so much?” She rebelled, “I like pink”
“That’s a very girly color” I said.
“You are saying as if you are gonna wear this”
“No, but –“
“But what ? This is for your eyes only? “She replied. “And I think you’d love to see me in the pink”
I closed my eyes for moment and imagined her standing in-front of me, she was
right pink was perfect !
“Whichever you like” I agreed.
#
We went to my place afterwards, I didn’t have to ask her, she really wanted to see my place. I went to my bedroom and I picked up the cello which was lying in a corner beside the TV. I sat on the garden chair and I started strumming I knew a couple of songs on C major and G chords, I opened my mouth to add some lyrics to the tunes, I don’t claim to be Bon Jovi but I was okay.
She didn’t follow me and I called her name, in-fact I mixed it in the song I was playing. A tap on the door should have alerted me and I should have abandoned my creative pursues but I went on unnoticed and carefree, the door was open and so she came in.
She stood there against the wall, liked it or hated it I did not know, I did not care less probably, and when I was singing the last stanza she came just in front of me, but I went on regardless, considering myself some prodigy of the country song maestro John Denver, though she standing absolutely still I saw her moving slightly on the tunes, her hands, her legs and hips synchronized with the music, in that moment, in every bit of Bhargavi I saw Ishika laughing, thrilled, sad, lost, a million hues a million emotion flowing from her, flowing into her, she was singing with me, our voices slowly melting into one, there was no difference between the two anymore.
I knew what she wanted, she understood what I desired, in-fact we just wanted each other’s embrace and nothing else, two birds living far-off from the world in their own nest, a sanctuary of our own where we forgot who we were, where we were from, a place and a time where we were forever young.
I saw an endless field of maize, as yellow as the morning sun, waving in warm breeze, a small wooden cottage in the fields, she came out of the door, it was surreal, and hung her towel in of the strings, the string that wound us together, she waves her hair in the air to get rid of the moisture, I am coming running through the criss-crossed pathway, she was looking at me smiling, the sun shone behind her face, it was difficult to distinguish the two. I saw her in flashes, of pitch darkness and extreme brightness, the world has lost its meaning, the self has lost its meaning.
“You have some talent” she said. I held back my tears, “Thank you” “But you don’t have to say that, I have a terrible voice”
“No, what are you talking about, it’s beautiful” “and you play very well too”
“I just know couple of songs that’s all”
“So who’s your favorite player?” She asked.
"nobody in particular I just like music doesn’t matter who wrote it”
“No, let me guess, John Morrison?” She said ruffling my hair.
“The doors, no way” “I like it but-“ “It’s too intense, I like Denver and the country”
I began to string again, this time it was “take me home country roads - “ She walked to me in the most lyrical manner, and stood there just in-front of me, her hands were waving in sinusoidal pattern - she was crushing her dress. She took one of my hand off from the cello put it on her knee-cap. My heart began to race, I looked up at her but she seemed completely lost as if she had had a gallon of vodka. Then gently she began to slid my hand up her legs, through her dress. I wondered if it was today when I’d be successful in my goal; although it was a small step but a very necessary one.
My fingers ran through the warmth of her thighs and stopped somewhere halfway. She looked down at me and said, “Dance with me”. She took my other hand off the cello too, the cello through the band hung loose on my neck. She was holding both of my hands, and the hands were firmly placed on her thighs. There was no music, but her head and her torso continued to move.
After the brief pause she began to pull my hands again and my finger rustled against the softness of her skin like a summer breeze rustles against the dry leaves. She continued to took lift my hand through her thighs, it was an ecstatic moment for her and for me. The only difference was I knew better to not lose myself in the moment, I knew better to stay on course.
Finally, when my hands reached the end of her thighs she stopped. She used my hands to caress her thighs, her face had turned completely red.
I stood up, she un-stitched her dress from behind, her light yellow dress now hung loose from only the stripes over her shoulders. She removed her shoulder from beneath one on the stripe, and asked me to get rid of the other, I obeyed her. Her dress now was wrapped around her body only with the help of her will, she tightened her body and the dressed slipped through till her waist.
In front of me was an amazingly beautiful woman, and someone whom I never dreamed like this - Half naked. Her body was leaning in my arm which wrapped around her and held from behind, and from the front I held her tight against myself.
I took a brief look at her slender body, her waist was every m
odel’s dream, the bellybutton was only a fingertip deep. A ring adorned her bellybutton and I pinched her lightly, in her retaliation she punched her on my chest. She took my shirt off which already was unbuttoned half way through, I was not wearing anything inside, I pushed her further against me – her bare skin touched mine.
I saw the passion burning in her eyes, her breath was becoming uneven and her lips had begun to quiver. It didn’t take a mentalist to read what was going on her mind, I could clearly sense what she wanted. And this where we differed - she was under the influence of her raging emotions while I was steady my mind had reigned over my desires.
I caressed her shoulder with back of my fingers as I gazed at her body again, her neck was a in perfect ratio with her head. Further down, her supple breasts wore the pink brassiere that we had just bought. I freed my hands, stepped back a little and looked at her again in admiration. She was a marvel, a perfect being.
I placed my hands on her hips, the rest of herself ready to unravel from the dress which clung in a tiny balance over her hips. She moved and joined her legs together, the dress was ready to come down. I helped her by sliding the dress down further her hips, in a smooth fluid motion the dress dropped her to her ankles. She took a step further, and unbuttoned my rugged jeans, the next was the zip that she flicked open in one go. I stopped her hands in the motion which seemed determined to go further, I wanted the situation to go as per my liking only. I looked at her and blinked, I threw myself on the bed. She seemed way to eager and stood on the edge of the bed on her knees.
“No, no, no…” I said. “Hold on” I grabbed the cell-phone from her purse which lying further on the bed. I slid upon the camera and jumped to her, “Go back” I said. She stood up.
“Go back, go stand against the wall” I commanded. She stepped back and stood as I asked of her. I put the cell phone on the table nearby, and asked her to face me, she was confused but her desire left no space for any other emotion, her mind was completely blocked too. I took a picture of her adjusting the phone on the table – she looked her seductive best. And then I gave it to her and asked to take a selfie, she pulled me by my wrist and we clicked one together – this was not want exactly I wanted but I knew I could cut myself out anytime.
Zero Defect: An autobiography of a software engineer Page 19